Method and apparatus for multi-language user selection and currency conversion

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for facilitating a business transaction wherein a merchant/operator is presented with transaction-related information in the operator&#39;s preferred language and currency, wherein the customer is presented with transaction-related information in the customer&#39;s preferred language and currency, and wherein the customer&#39;s language and currency are different from the operator&#39;s language and currency. This allows persons who speak different languages and who are used to conducting transactions in different currencies to readily engage in business transactions. The method and apparatus can be employed, for example, in a credit card or debit card terminal, thereby allowing a merchant to easily accommodate tourists from foreign countries. The customer&#39;s language and/or currency preferences may be obtained from a credit card/debit card, cellular telephone, smart card, or other portable memory medium prior to or during the transaction, thereby obviating the need to manually select a preferred language and currency for each transaction.

This application is a Continuation-in-Part of and claims priority fromU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/185,030, filed Jul. 20, 2005, whichis hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of credit card transactionterminals suitable for use in retail and food services businesses andother establishments that interact with consumers. More specifically,the present invention relates to point of sale terminals andtransactions where the customers of a business may speak a languagedifferent from the language spoken by the merchant and the credit cardtransaction terminal processes transactions in more than one languageand displays the correct language for the customer and the correctlanguage for the merchant.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Credit and debit card usage to conduct commercial transactions betweenvendors and customers is a daily occurrence in modern life. The ease ofuse and ubiquitous integration of credit cards into everyday life issuch that many customers do not carry cash and rely instead on credit ordebit cards for all purchases.

At the same time, increased population mobility and globalization hasresulted in varied ethnic groups operating and patronizing businesses,and in some cases, the merchant operating a card terminal may not speakthe same language as the customer. This can pose difficulty if the pointof sale terminal displays only one language that either themerchant/operator or the customer cannot understand. In such instances,language may become a barrier to completing a transaction. Businessestablishments in multi-ethnic areas and those whose operators may notspeak the language of the local culture in which they are located needto accommodate both merchant and customers by providing terminals usableby each.

In the past, credit card terminals have been programmed to access adatabase, server or run a program that could only display and print onelanguage per transaction. Typically, that language would be either thelanguage of the merchant or the native language of the businessestablishment's location. For a customer that does not speak thelanguage displayed by the credit card terminal, the customer might notbe able to fully understand the transaction and may distrust thebusiness and forego the transaction. Where the merchant needs operatinginstructions or needs to troubleshoot the terminal, having a display inthe merchant's language while printing receipts or having customdisplays in the customer's language is not presently available.

Conventionally, there is a need for a credit card terminal to be able todisplay information in the merchant's language and display informationor print a receipt in the customer's language so that both parties cancomplete the transaction with a high level of comfort.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a method and apparatusfor multi-language user selection for system user interface thatsubstantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitationsand disadvantages of the related art.

An object of the present invention is to provide a credit card and debitcard terminal that is able to display information in one language forthe merchant and print a record and/or display information for thebusiness transaction in another language that corresponds to thelanguage of the customer.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth inthe description which follows, and in part will be apparent from thedescription, or may be learned by practice of the invention. Theobjectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized andattained by the structure particularly pointed out in the writtendescription and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

One embodiment of the subject-matter of the invention is a credit cardand debit card transaction terminal that includes a processor, adisplay, and a memory. The terminal also includes a card readerconfigured to read data stored on a memory means of a portable memorymedium. Further, an operator interface is produced by an operatorinterface program stored in the memory and executable by the processor,where the operator interface is displayable on the display in anoperator language. The terminal further includes a customer interfacethat is produced by a customer interface program stored in the memoryand executable by the processor where the customer interface isdisplayable in a customer language. The terminal further includes alanguage identification module stored in the memory and executable onthe processor, the language identification module configured to selectthe operator language in which the operator interface is displayable foran operator and to select a customer language in which the customerinterface is displayable for a customer and where the operator languageand the customer language is selected from a plurality of languagesstored in the module and the customer language and the operator languageare different.

Another embodiment of the subject-matter of the invention is a methodfor configuring an operator language displayable on a display to adisplayable customer language for a credit and debit card transaction,including the steps of identifying the operator language for an operatorinterface displayable on a display from a language identification moduleconfigurable from a plurality of languages where the operator languageis provided from an operator interface program. The method includesselecting the operator language from a plurality of languagesdisplayable on a display from an operator interface program and storingthe operator language in a memory for displaying the operator interfaceon the display in the operator language. The method also includesreading the customer language from a portable memory medium of acustomer and identifying the customer language for customer interfacefrom a language identification module configurable from a plurality oflanguages, the customer language is provided from a customer interfaceprogram and displayable. The method also includes selecting the customerlanguage from a plurality of languages from the customer interfaceprogram and conducting a business transaction, where the businesstransaction includes displaying the operator interface in the operatorlanguage on a display and displaying a customer interface in thecustomer language, where the operator language and customer language aredifferent.

Another embodiment of the subject-matter of this invention is a computerreadable media containing computer-executable instructions, includingselecting an operator language displayable on a display from a pluralityof languages associated with an operator interface program and storingsaid operator language in a memory. The subject matter further includesreading a portable memory medium for a customer and identifying acustomer language from a portable memory medium and selecting a customerlanguage displayable to the customer from a plurality of languageassociated with a customer interface program. The subject-matter alsoincludes displaying an operator interface in the operator languageprovided from the operator interface program for conducting a businesstransaction and displaying a customer interface in the operator languageprovided from the customer interface program for conducting a businesstransaction.

Another embodiment of the subject-matter of this invention is a methodfor converting an operator language displayable on a display of aportable credit and debit card terminal to a customer language for abusiness transaction including selecting an operator language from aplurality of languages stored in a language identification module storedin a memory, the language identification module associated with operatorlanguage identification module is configured to identify the operatorlanguage where the operator language is displayable for the operatorinterface to an operator on a display and storing the operator languagein the memory. The method includes reading a portable memory medium of acustomer and identifying from a plurality of languages stored in alanguage identification module a customer language, the languageidentification module associated with a customer language identificationmodule is configured to identify the customer language where thecustomer language is displayable to a customer on a printing mechanism,where, if no customer language is identified, then a default language isselected and displayable to the customer. The method also includesselecting a customer language from a plurality of languages stored in alanguage identification module stored in a memory; the languageidentification module associated with customer language identificationmodule is configured to identify the customer language where theoperator language is displayable for the customer. The method alsoincludes displaying an operator interface from an operator interfaceprogram in the operator language on a display for an operator to conducta business transaction and displaying a customer interface from acustomer interface program in the customer language on the printingmechanism for conducting a business transaction, where the customerlanguage and the operator language are different and providing acustomer input configurable to provide input from a customer, where thecustomer interface is displayable on the display in the customerlanguage for said customer input.

Another embodiment of the subject-matter of this invention is amechanism for configuring a business transaction by having an operatorlanguage interfacing means for displaying an operator language and acustomer language interfacing means for displaying a customer languageincluding a means for selecting the operator language from a terminallanguage identification module stored in a memory configured to includea plurality of languages, the terminal language identification moduleconfigured to identify the operator language from a languageidentification means wherein the operator language is displayed for amerchant on an operator interface and storing said operator language ina memory. The embodiment further includes a means for identifying thecustomer language from reading a portable memory means of the customerand means for selecting the customer language from a customer languageidentification means to stored in the memory configured to include aplurality of languages, the customer language identification moduleconfigured to identify the customer language in which a customerinterface is displayed for the customer. The embodiment also includesmeans for displaying an operator language on the merchant interfacingmeans for the business transaction and means for displaying a customerlanguage on the customer language interface means, where the customerlanguage is different than the operator language.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and areintended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention andtogether with the description serve to explain the principles of atleast one embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an interactive system for use with aportable memory medium.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram depicting a method of use in a system thatprovides one language for the user interface display and anotherlanguage for displaying the customer interface.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram depicting a method of use in a system thatprovides a language for the user interface display to the worker andanother language for displaying on the user interface display and forthe customer during a business transaction.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an interactive system for use with aportable memory medium where the interactive system has more than onedisplay.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram depicting a method of providing language andcurrency interfaces for merchants and customers as part of a businesstransaction.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an interactive system for use with a memorywhere the interactive system is capable of accounting for customer andmerchant currency preferences as part of a business transaction.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of thepresent invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings.

Also described herein are one or more exemplary implementations ofmethod and apparatus and for use with a multi-language user selectionfor system user interface that displays different languages for thecustomer and worker partaking in a business transaction.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a credit card or debitcard terminal 100 (“terminal”) according to the subject matter of thepresent invention. Terminal 100 may be similar to a regular credit cardterminal but may be stationary, like set up at cash register orincorporated therein, or the terminal may be portable to allow themerchant to carry the credit card terminal around the businessestablishment to be utilized at multiple locations in a store, building,market, restaurant or the like. The terminal 100 has similar features tomost credit card terminals but may also be without any limitation, a PC,a work station, a dumb terminal or any other manner of system used toconduct a business transaction in a commercial setting. In thisembodiment, the terminal 100 will be a normal credit card terminal usedat the average retail business. The features of the terminal includes acard read 102 that is configured to read a portable memory medium thatwould include any form of credit card, debit card, ATM card or the likethat has a magnetic strip that stores information pertinent to the ownerof the card 104. The card reader 102 may accept the card 104 in anyphysical manner, for example, internally or via swiping, or may beconfigured to read an integrated chip (IC) or radio frequency (RFID)memory without physically having to accept the card 104. For example,instead of physically swiping the card 104, the card reader 104 may beable to read the RFID memory and conduct all the necessary steps toconduct the business transaction as if it was a regular credit card. Inthis embodiment, it is assumed that the terminal 100 is configured tointernally accept a card into the terminal 100 via swiping, where thecard reader 102 reads a memory strip on the card 102. The terminal 100also has a keyboard 108 that allows manual entry of a user inputs by themerchant or depending on the business transaction inputs from acustomer. The user inputs could include telephone numbers, a customerpin number for a debit card transactions, a credit card number by thebusiness establishment if for some reason the card reader 102 is unableto read the card 104 or user inputs that are necessary to meet the needsof the merchant. The keyboard 108 may also be used for the merchant toselect the appropriate language for the user interface display 106 andthe keyboard may also allow the merchant to select the language to beprinted on the receipt 114, as discussed further below. The keyboard 108may be any form of input means including a keyboard, touch pad, actuatoror similar device.

The terminal 100 also has a user interface display 106 that will displayor show information to the merchant that would be pertinent to thebusiness establishment including time, date, sales price andinstructions to enter data at the appropriate time along with otheritems that might be displayed during a business transaction by a creditcard terminal or when the terminal is awaiting a business transaction.The user interface display 106 could be any manner of display includingLCD, screen, television or computer screen, or a typical monochromescreen found in a credit card terminal. The terminal 100 furtherincludes a processor 110 that will process the business transaction intothe appropriate systems and displays to complete the transaction. Theprocessor may also be utilized to process the various modules from amemory 108 and may also be used for the merchant to select theappropriate language for the user interface display 106. The userinterface display 106 may also be used to display information to thecustomer or be used as a customer interface and, if the user interfacedisplay 106 is used or viewed by a customer then the user interfacedisplay 106 will display the pertinent information to the customer inthe customer language. As shown in FIG. 4, there maybe more that oneuser interface display 106 if, for example, the business establishmenthas a display configured at the business transaction location of thebusiness establishment to have a merchant display 150 for displaying thebusiness transaction to merchant or operator and a customer display 155to display information to the customer.

The terminal 100 further may include a printer 112 that will print areceipt 114 as a recordation of the business transaction. The printer112 may be some other form of customer interface that will provide arecord of the business transaction to the customer. Such customerinterface could be a printer with a receipt, a computer providing anelectronic or print receipt, a touch screen or keyboard permittingcustomer to the terminal or any other recordation system used in thecustomer retail business. The printer 112 may also be able to print areceipt 114 in the single piece of paper format for the customer to signwith multiple copies printed by the printer 1 12, the dual carbon copyformat for the customer to sign or any other form contemplated byskilled artisan. In this embodiment, customer interface is assumed to bea printer 112 that will print a receipt 114 that is dual carbon copyformat for the customer to execute. Also, the printer 112 does not haveto be physically and internally associated with the terminal but may beconnected by electronic means including without limitation an Ethernetconnection, broadband, T-1 connection, DSL, phone lines, wireless,coaxial cables or any other manner contemplated that would associate aterminal 100 with a printer 112. For discussion purposes only theprinter 112 will be assumed to be internally connected to the terminal100 as shown in FIG. 1. The receipt 114 that is printed by printer 112displays the typical writings, information and expressions that arenormally found on a receipt 114 that a merchant would give to a customerfor a business transaction including, but not limited, to such items asprice, business establishment's name, the business establishment'slocation and phone number, time of the business transaction, customersignature line, customer account information and any other possibleinformation that would normally be included on a credit card receipt. Inthe subject matter of the invention all of this information would be inthe customer's language for the customer's comfort.

The terminal 100 also contains a memory 116 that stores programs used ina typical business transaction that occurs on a credit card terminal.The memory 116 further stores an interface language program 120 thatgenerates an operator interface that is displayed on the user interfacedisplay 106 to aid the merchant or operator with the businesstransaction. The interface language program 120 includes a languageidentification module 122 that is utilized by the interface languageprogram 120 to identify and select the appropriate language to bedisplayed on the user interface 106 or receipt 114. The languageidentification module 122 will select an interface language for theoperator interface and select the customer interface by running one oftwo sub-routines depending on the task to be completed. Each sub-routinemay be utilized separately for conducting the business transaction. Thefirst sub-routine is the terminal language identification module 124that runs to identify, select and display the appropriate language forthe merchant on the user interface display 106. The terminal languageidentification module 124 can be read out from stored group of languagesin the memory in advance of any business transaction. The terminallanguage identification 124 sub-routine may be run a few times, forexample during the initial set-up of the terminal by the merchant ormaybe when a worker that speaks one language is replaced by a workerthat speaks another during a shift change. The second sub-routine is acustomer language identification module 126 that runs to identify,select and display the appropriate language for the customer on thereceipt 114 that is printed by the printer 112 or some other form ofcustomer interface. The customer language identification module 126 isrun in a similar manner as the terminal language identification module124 in that it reads from a stored group of language from the memory 116that can be displayed to the customer. The customer languageidentification module 126 may run when it is necessary for a receipt 114to be printed in a customer language for a credit or debit cardtransaction and could be run multiple times a day, hour, or week. Themethodology of these tasks will be described in greater detail below.

The language identification module 122 may have an extensive array oflanguages to select from to be displayed as the interface language, beit an operator interface or customer interface language, for therespective merchant and customer. The terminal language identificationmodule 124 and customer language identification module 126 areassociated to run the necessary interface language to be displayed onthe user interface display and/or the receipt. The plurality oflanguages available to the interface language would only be limited bythe size of the memory necessary to store the languages and the costsassociated with translating the interface language for displaying on theuser interface display 106 or display on the customer interface orreceipt 112. The language identification module 122 may include a textrepresentation of the name of the language, or it may be in code formthat is reconciled by the processor 110 or computing device in theterminal 100 for the interface language to be displayed. Anyrepresentation that may be used to automatically identify and display anappropriate interface language may displayed on the user interfacedisplay 106 or displayed on the receipt 112.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram depicting another embodiment of a method foruse in a system that provides one language for the user interfacedisplay 106 and another language for displaying on the customerinterface or receipt 114 that is printed by the printer 112. In thisembodiment, this is assumed to a stationary credit card terminal, asshown in FIG. 1, and is located in a retail business establishment andthe card is assumed to be a typically credit card with a magnetic stripthat stores a customer's pertinent information. However, it is notedthat this is no way meant to limit the application of the invention inany way.

At block 200, the merchant may select and store in the memory 116 themerchant language used on the user interface display 106 or may allow adefault language to be displayed on the user interface display 106 ofthe terminal 100 in the details that are described below. The terminal100 may be configured for the merchant to utilize the keyboard 108 andthe user interface display 106 to search through the plurality oflanguages that are provided by the language identification module 122via running the terminal language identification module 124 sub-routineto display the interface language for the language to be displayed onthe user interface display 106, otherwise know as the operator languageor merchant language. The merchant utilizes the keyboard 108 todesignate or select the appropriate language necessary for the userinterface display 106. Other possible embodiments of selecting theinterface language to be used by the merchant would be to have a defaultlanguage selected for the terminal 100 prior to activating the terminalthat would match the language of the merchant or possibly have theterminal 100 configured to access an internet web site and download theappropriate operator interface language into the language identificationmodule 122 and run the terminal language identification module 124 priorto activating the terminal 100. The interface language for customerlanguage can be selected via the customer language identification module126 and may be searched and selected in the same manner except for asdescribed below. The terminal 100 may also be configured to allow theoperator interface language to be displayed on the user interfacedisplay 106 to be changed from one language to another by the merchantto accommodate operators or users that work at the credit card terminaland that might speak different languages but work in the same businessestablishment.

At block 210, the terminal 100 is configured to accept a portable memorymedium like a credit card with a magnetic strip which permits the cardreader 102 to detect the card 104 when it is inserted or swiped by theterminal 100. The terminal 100 is configured to read the card 104 anddetermine if a particular language has been stored on the card's memoryas shown in block 220. If there is an associated language for the card104, then the language identification module 122 and the customerlanguage identification module 126 will run to identify, determine andselect the appropriate customer language, as shown in block 230 (“Yes”branch 235 to block 250), that may displayed on the customer interfaceor receipt 114. Block 250 demonstrates that the customer interface isbeing run for a business transaction and a receipt 114 prints from aprinter 112 associated with terminal 100. Further, during the businesstransaction, block 250, the user interface display 106 displays aoperator interface language that corresponds to the merchant languageand provides instructions, pricing and other expressions and informationthat would normally occur during a business transaction that takes placeutilizing a credit card to a merchant. The term operator language andmerchant language are used interchangeably throughout and have the samemeaning. The receipt 114 prints in the appropriate customer language ofthe customer as shown in block 260. The receipt 114 will display thenormal information that a merchant would give to a customer for abusiness transaction including but not limited to such items as cost,business establishment's name, the business establishment's location andphone number, time of the business transaction, customer accountinformation, signature line and any other possible information thatwould normally be included on a credit card receipt and it all would bedisplayed in the customer language.

If there is no associated language with the card 104 or if there is alanguage associated with the card 104 (“No” branch 236 to block 240) butit is not identifiable by the customer language identification module126 sub-routine, then a default language is selected by the customerlanguage identification terminal to be displayed on the receipt, asshown in block 240. The default language may be sent to the processor110 for display as the customer interface language on the receipt (“DL”branch 245 to block 250). After the business transaction has taken place250, then a receipt 114 is printed from the printer 112 displaying thenormal information that a merchant would give to a customer as detailedabove, however the receipt 114 would be printed in the default language.The default language may be selected by the merchant to be the languagemost commonly used by the customers of the business establishment or themerchant's language or any other criteria the merchant deems acceptablethat may allow the merchant to best conduct the business transaction.After the receipt 114 has been printed by the printer 112, the systemresets block 265 back to block 210 (“Reset” branch 270 to block 210) inpreparation for a new customer to use a card 102 that will activate theterminal unless there may be a need to change the interface language forthe terminal 100. The method can also be set to reset all the way backto block 200 if a user, operator or merchant is replaced that speaks onelanguage with a user, operator or merchant that speaks another languageas shown in branch 275.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram depicting another embodiment of a method foruse in a system that provides one language for the user interfacedisplay 106 for the operator and another language might also bedisplayed on the user interface display 106. There may be instances whena customer might need to view the user interface display 106 to completethe transaction. For example, instead of a credit card transaction, thecustomer elects to use a debit card to complete the transaction and theuser interface display 116 needs to display information in the customerlanguage to complete the business transaction. In this embodiment, thereis a business transaction for a stationary credit card or debit cardterminal, as shown in FIG. 1, and is located in a retail businessestablishment and the card is assumed to be a typically credit or debitcard terminal with a printer that prints the receipt. However, it isnoted that this is no way meant to limit the application of theinvention in any way. The flow diagram of FIG. 3 is very similar to theflow diagram of FIG. 2 except the additional steps associated withproviding the customer language on the user interface display 106.

At block 300, the merchant may select and store in the memory 116 themerchant language to be used on the user interface display 106 to beshown to the merchant or may allow a default language to be displayed onthe user interface display 106 of the terminal 100. The merchant can usethe keyboard 108 of terminal 100 to configure the language to bedisplayed to the merchant on the user interface display 106 or in asimilar manner as detailed for FIG. 2.

At block 310, the terminal 100 is configured to accept a portable memorymedium like a credit card with a magnetic strip which will allow thecard reader 102 to detect the card 104 when it is inserted or swiped bythe terminal 100. The terminal 100 is configured to read the card 104and further configured to determine if a particular language has beenstored on the card as shown in block 320. Similar to FIG. 2, thecustomer language identification module 126 will run to identify,determine and select the appropriate customer language, as shown inblock 330 (“Yes” branch 336 to block 350), to be displayed by the userinterface display 106 and/or on the receipt 114. However, to conduct adebit card transaction or some credit card transaction, a customer mayneed to input a personal identification number (“PIN”) on the keyboard108 to verify and confirm the transaction for business transaction to becompleted. The user interface display 106, shown in Block 365, displaysthe words, information and expressions in a merchant language for themerchant's involvement in the business transaction. In block 360, theterminal 100 displays on the user interface display 106 the words,information and expressions in the customer language for the customer'sinvolvement in the business transaction. For example, the user interfacedisplay 106 may display in the customer language the necessary wordsthat notify the customer to understand, confirm, approve or any othercriteria that would aid in completing the transaction via the keyboard108. The user interface display 106 displays all normal information to acustomer that would complete a debit card transaction including PINnumber, cash back and the like, as shown in block 360, in the customerlanguage. Block 370 demonstrates that a business transaction hasoccurred and a receipt 114 may print from a printer 112, as shown inblock 380. For the business transaction, the user interface display 106may switch back and forth from customer language to merchant languagedepending on the status of the transaction and who might be viewing theuser interface display 106. The receipt 114 will prints and displays thenormal information that may be included on a debit card receipt and itall would be displayed in the customer language. After the receipt 114has been printed by the printer 112, the system resets back to block 310(“Reset” branch 390 to block 310) in preparation for a new customer touse a card 102 (be it credit or debit card) for a business transactionthat will activate the terminal 100 unless there is a need to change theinterface language for the terminal 100. The method can also be set toreset all the way back to block 300 if a user, operator or merchant isreplaced that speaks one language with a user, operator or merchant thatspeaks another language as demonstrated in branch 295.

Again, if there is no associated language with the card 104 or if thereis a language associated with the card 104 (“No” branch 335 to block340) but the language is not identifiable by the customer languageidentification module 126 sub-routine, then a default language isselected and displayed on the receipt 114 and the user interface display106. Again similar to FIG. 2, the default language may be sent to theprocessor 110 for display on the receipt (“DL” branch 345 to block 350).At the end of the transaction, block 380, a receipt 114 is printed fromthe printer 112 displaying the normal information that a merchant wouldgive to a customer but the receipt 114 is in the default language. Asdetailed in FIG. 2, the default language may be selected by the merchantto be the language most commonly used by the customers of the businessestablishment or the merchant's language or any other criteria that mayallow the merchant to best conduct the business transaction.

FIG. 5 illustrates another exemplary embodiment of the instant methodand apparatus. In FIG. 5, when a new terminal is installed at a merchantlocation, the merchant can select a preferred language which will beused by the terminal when displaying transaction related information tothe merchant (Block 505). The merchant may also select a preferredcurrency. When the merchant and customer are ready to initiate abusiness transaction, the terminal can read a customer memory to obtaincustomer preference information (Block 510). Exemplary customer memorymedia may include, without limitation, memory which can be read viaphysical connection, such as the magnetic stripe on a credit or debitcard, a Universal Serial Bus readable drive such as a thumb drive, aCompact Flash or other such card, or an integrated circuit or other suchdevice implanted in or otherwise connected to a credit or debit card orsimilar product. A customer memory may also include, without limitation,memory which can be read via wireless connection, such as a RadioFrequency Identification (“RFID”) chip embedded in or otherwise attachedto a credit or debit card, cellular telephone, or the like; and a barcode imprinted on or embedded in a credit or debit card or the like.

If customer language and currency preferences are available from thecustomer memory (Block 515), the terminal can use those preferencesduring the business transaction (Block 520). If either or both of thecustomer language and currency preferences are not available from thecustomer memory, the terminal can query the customer for the missingpreference information (Block 525). In the event the preferred customerlanguage and/or customer currency are not supported by the terminal, adefault language may be substituted therefore. Similarly, an alternativelanguage and/or currency may be substituted for the preferred languageand/or currency. By way of example, without limitation, a customer fromthe United Kingdom who is shopping in Russia might prefer to haveinformation presented in English that has been customized for the subtledifferences in language between the dialects of English spoken in theUnited Kingdom, but the terminal may not support such a languageselection. In such a circumstance, English-language interfaces based onthe dialect of English spoken in the United States may be substitutedfor the customer's preferred language. Similarly, although the customermay prefer to see currency-related information in Pounds Sterling, theterminal may display currency-related information in Euros if theterminal does not support Pounds Sterling-based currency information.

The business transaction is then initiated (Block 530). The terminal candisplay text-based or other information to the merchant in the merchantlanguage, and similarly can present any currency-based information, suchas the final transaction amount, to the merchant in the merchant'spreferred currency (Block 535). The terminal can also display text-basedor other information to the customer in the customer language, andsimilarly can present currency-based information, such as the finaltransaction amount, any currency conversion related charges, or thelike, to the customer in the customer's preferred currency (Block 540).When the business transaction is complete (Block 545), the terminal canprint a receipt for the customer in the customer's preferred languageand using the customer's preferred currency.

As described above, the instant method and apparatus can facilitatebusiness transactions by allowing customers who speak one language andare used to conducting business in one currency to purchase goods and/orservices from merchants who speak another language and are used toconducting business in another currency. FIG. 6 is a block diagramillustrating a network architecture capable of supporting the instantsystem and methods. In FIG. 6, a customer may present one ofcredit/debit cards 605 for payment. Credit/debit cards 605 may include amagnetic stripe or other physically-readable memory, which is read viareader 610. Reader 610 may also be capable of reading one or morewireless memories, such as, without limitation, an RFID chip embedded incredit/debit card 605 or cellular telephone 615. Reader 610 can obtain avariety of information from the memory, including, without limitation, acustomer account number, a customer preferred language, and a customerpreferred currency. This information can be conveyed to terminal 630,which can implement the method described above with respect FIG. 5 oranother, similar method, to facilitate the transaction between thecustomer and a merchant.

In some embodiments, terminal 630 may access payment processing server665 via a high-speed or dial-up connection, such as that provided bymodems 640 and 660. Exemplary modems 640 and 660 include, withoutlimitation, modems capable of facilitating communication via standardtelephone communications, modems capable of facilitating communicationsvia a wireless connection such as cellular telephone and WiMAX or WiFimodems, and modems capable of facilitating communications via DigitalSubscriber Line (“DSL”) or Cable networks. In alternative embodiments,terminal 630 can utilize merchant server 635 as a conduit forcommunications with and information provided by one or more of paymentprocessing server 665 and currency server 655. In some embodiments,traditional terminal 630 may comprise a conventional credit cardprocessing terminal, such as the VeriFone Omni 3740 manufactured byVerifone, Inc. of San Jose, Calif.; the Hypercom Optimum T4100 andHypercom T7 Plus, manufactured by Hypercom Corporation of Phoenix,Ariz.; and computer based terminals such as the SurePOS 500 series ofterminals manufactured by IBM.

In some embodiments, a terminal may comprise a wireless paymentprocessing terminal 620. Exemplary wireless terminals include, withoutlimitation, the Nurit 8000 GPRS Wireless terminal manufactured byVerifone, Inc. Wireless terminals 620 can facilitate businesstransactions using a variety of means, including cellular or otherwireless telephone communications which enables direct communicationwith payment processing server 665; and a WiFi modem or other moderaterange wireless communications device, or a BlueTooth modem or othershort range communications device, which can allow wireless terminal 620to communicate with wireless base station 625, wherein wireless basestation 625 comprises a corresponding communications means. Inembodiments employing a wireless base station 625, wireless base station625 can allow wireless terminal 620 to communicate with paymentprocessing server 665 via modem 640. Base station 625 can also allowwireless terminal 620 to communicate with and/or via server 635.Wireless terminal 620 can comprise a card reader or other device capableof reading physically readable memory. Similarly, wireless terminal 620may also comprise one or more readers capable of reading remotelyreadable memory, such as RFID chips embedded in or attached to a creditor debit card.

Both wireless terminals 620 and traditional terminals 630 can alsoinclude functionality which allows them to operate with cellulartelephone 670 based payment methods, such as those created byInternational Business Machines (“IBM”) at the University of California,Santa Barbara, for payment of parking fees and the like.

In some embodiments, wireless terminals 620 and traditional terminals630 can periodically update the currency conversion information storedtherein. By way of example, without limitation, the terminals may pollcurrency server 655 at midnight each night to obtain the latest currencyconversion rates, or the terminals may poll currency server 655 at thebeginning of each business transaction. A polling interval may beselected according to a variety of criteria including, withoutlimitation, local banking or other laws, local or national businesscustoms, merchant preferences, and the availability and/or cost ofcommunications.

In some embodiments, the terminal may obtain all available currencyconversion rates from currency server 655. In some embodiments, theterminal may request only those currency conversions that are availablefrom currency server 655 and which are based on the merchant's preferredcurrency or the local currency in which the terminal is installed. Insome embodiments, the currency server 655 can provide conversioninformation for a wide variety of currencies based on a standardizedcurrency. By way of example, without limitation, currency server 655 mayelect to use the U.S. dollar as a base currency, and all other currencyinformation can be supplied to the terminal based on the base currency.In the event the currency information provided by currency server 655does not directly allow the terminal to convert from or to either themerchant preferred currency or the customer preferred currency, theterminal may derive an appropriate conversion rate based on theavailable information.

While the invention has been described in detail and with reference tospecific embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that various changes and modifications may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Thus, it isintended that the present invention cover the modifications andvariations of this invention provided they come within the scope of theappended claims and their equivalents.

1. A system for facilitating a financial transaction, comprising: aprocessor; a display; a memory; an operator interface produced by anoperator interface module stored in the memory and executable by theprocessor, the operator interface being displayable on the display in anoperator language; a customer interface produced by a customer interfacemodule stored in the memory and executable by the processor, thecustomer interface being displayable in a customer language; and, alanguage identification module stored in the memory and executable onthe processor, the language identification module configurable to selectthe operator language in which the operator interface is displayable fora operator and to select a customer language in which the customerinterface is displayable for a customer, wherein said operator languageand said customer language are selected from a plurality of languagesstored in the language identification module, wherein the customerlanguage and the operator language are different, and whereintransaction facilitating information is presented to the operator in theoperator language, and to the customer in the customer language, as partof a transaction.
 2. The system of claim 1, further comprising anindicator of a preferred customer language, wherein customer language inwhich the transaction facilitating information is presented comprisesthe preferred customer language, and wherein the preferred customerlanguage indicator is read by a reader from a customer medium.
 3. Thesystem of claim 2, wherein the customer medium comprises a magneticmemory.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein the magnetic memory isportable.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the customer mediumcomprises a magnetic stripe on a credit card.
 6. The system of claim 2,wherein the reader reads the preferred customer language withoutphysically having to accept the customer medium.
 7. The system of claim6, wherein the reader reads the customer medium via a wirelessinterface.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the wireless interfacecomprises RFID.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the languageidentification module permits the operator to select the operatorlanguage from the plurality of language stored in the languageidentification module.
 10. The system of claim 10, wherein the operatorlanguage is stored in the memory.
 11. The system of claim 1, furthercomprising an operator display and a customer display, wherein thetransaction facilitating information displayed to the operator isdisplayed on the operator display, and wherein the transactionfacilitating information displayed to the customer is displayed on thecustomer display.
 12. A financial transaction method, comprising:storing transaction facilitating information in a plurality of languagesin a language identification module; identifying an operator languagefrom a first memory; identifying a customer language from a secondmemory; displaying an operator interface, wherein the operator interfaceis displayed in the operator language; displaying a customer interface,wherein the customer interface is displayed in the customer language;facilitating a business transaction, wherein the business transactioncomprises displaying the operator interface in the operator language anddisplaying the customer interface in the customer language, wherein theoperator language and the customer language are different.
 13. Themethod of claim 12, wherein a default language is selected as thecustomer language when the language identification module does notcontain transaction facilitating information in the customer languageread from the second memory.
 14. The method of claim 12, wherein thesecond memory is physically remote from the first memory.
 15. The methodof claim 14, wherein the second memory is read via a reader, and whereinthe reader wirelessly reads the second memory.
 16. The method of claim15, wherein the wireless reader employs RFID.
 17. The method of claim12, wherein the second memory comprises a magnetic stripe on a creditcard.
 18. A credit card and debit card transaction terminal comprising:a processor; a display; a memory; a card reader configured to read datastored on a memory means of a memory medium; an operator interfaceproduced by an operator interface program stored in the memory andexecutable by the processor, the operator interface being displayable onthe display in an operator language; a customer interface produced by acustomer interface program stored in the memory and executable by theprocessor, the customer interface being displayable in a customerlanguage; a language identification module stored in the memory andexecutable on the processor, the language identification moduleconfigurable to select the operator language in which the operatorinterface is displayed to an operator and to select a customer languagein which the customer interface is displayed to a customer, wherein theoperator language and the customer language are selected from aplurality of languages stored in the module, wherein the customerlanguage and the operator language are different, and whereintransaction facilitating information is presented to the operator in theoperator language, and to the customer in the customer language, as partof a transaction; and, a currency module stored in the memory andexecutable on the processor, the currency module configurable to selectan operator currency in which financial information is presented as partof the operator interface and to select a customer currency in whichfinancial information is converted from the operator currency to thecustomer currency via exchange rate data and is presented as part of thecustomer interface, wherein the operator currency and the customercurrency are selected from a plurality of currencies stored in thecurrency module, and wherein the customer currency and the operatorcurrency are different.
 19. The terminal of claim 18, wherein thecurrency module permits selection of the operator currency from theplurality of currencies stored in the currency module.
 20. The terminalof claim 18, wherein the currency module permits selection of thecustomer currency from the plurality of currencies stored in thecurrency module.
 21. The terminal of claim 18, further comprising aprinting mechanism.
 22. The terminal of claim 21, wherein the printingmechanism issues a record.
 23. The terminal of claim 18, wherein saidterminal is portable.
 24. The terminal of claim 18, wherein the portablememory medium further comprises an integrated circuit card.
 25. Theterminal of claim 18, wherein the portable memory medium furthercomprises a card having a magnetic stripe.
 26. The terminal of claim 18,further comprising a plurality of displays, wherein the plurality ofdisplays comprises an operator display and a customer display.
 27. Theterminal of claim 18, wherein the data stored on the portable memorymedium comprises a currency identifier that identifies the customercurrency preferred by the customer.
 28. The terminal of claim 18,wherein the data stored on the portable memory medium comprises acurrency identifier that identifies the operator currency preferred bythe operator.
 29. The terminal of claim 18, further comprising a meansto retrieve updated exchange rate data prior to each transaction. 30.The terminal of claim 18, further comprising a means to retrieve updatedexchange rate data at scheduled intervals.
 31. A method for facilitatinga credit and debit card transaction, comprising: storing transactionfacilitating information in a plurality of languages in a languageidentification module; storing exchange rate data between a plurality ofcurrencies in a currency module; permitting an operator to select anoperator language from one of the plurality of languages in whichtransaction facilitating information is stored in the languageidentification module and an operator currency from one of the pluralityof currencies for which exchange rates between are stored in thecurrency module; storing the operator language and the operator currencyin a memory medium; reading a customer portable memory medium;identifying a customer language and a customer currency from a memorymedium; facilitating a business transaction, wherein the businesstransaction comprises displaying the operator interface in the operatorlanguage and operator currency on a display and displaying a customerinterface in the customer language and customer currency on a display,wherein the operator language and the customer language are different,and wherein the operator currency and the customer currency aredifferent.
 32. The method of claim 31, further comprising permitting acustomer to select a customer language from one of the plurality oflanguages in which transaction facilitating information is stored in thelanguage identification module and a customer currency from one of theplurality of currencies in which financial information is stored in thecurrency identification module.
 33. The method of claim 31, furthercomprising printing a receipt for the customer in the customer languageand the customer currency, wherein the receipt comprises a record of thetransaction.
 34. The method of claim 31, wherein a default language isselected as the customer language when the language identificationmodule does not contain transaction facilitating information in thecustomer language read from the memory medium.
 35. The method of claim31, wherein a default currency is selected as the customer currency whenthe currency identification modules does not contain financialinformation in the customer currency read from the memory medium. 36.The method of claim 31, further comprising reading a default operatorlanguage and a default operator currency from the memory medium prior topermitting the operator to select the operator language and the operatorcurrency.
 37. The method of claim 31, further comprising retrievingupdated exchange rate data prior to each business transaction.
 38. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising retrieving updated exchange ratedata at scheduled intervals.
 39. Computer readable media containingcomputer-executable instructions, wherein the computer-executableinstructions comprise instructions for: storing transaction facilitatinginformation in a plurality of languages in a language identificationmodule; storing exchange rate data between a plurality of currencies ina currency module; permitting an operator to select an operator languagefrom one of the plurality of languages in which transaction facilitatinginformation is stored in the language identification module and anoperator currency from one of the plurality of currencies for whichexchange rates between are stored in the currency module; storing theoperator language and the operator currency in a memory medium; readinga customer portable memory medium; identifying a customer language and acustomer currency from a memory medium; facilitating a businesstransaction, wherein the business transaction comprises displaying theoperator interface in the operator language and operator currency on adisplay and displaying a customer interface in the customer language andcustomer currency on a display, wherein the operator language and thecustomer language are different, and wherein the operator currency andthe customer currency are different.
 40. The computer-executableinstructions of claim 39 further comprising instructions permitting acustomer to select a customer language from one of the plurality oflanguages in which transaction facilitating information is stored in thelanguage identification module and a customer currency from one of theplurality of currencies in which financial information is stored in thecurrency identification module.
 41. The computer-executable instructionsof claim 40 further comprising instructions for printing a receipt forthe customer in the customer language and the customer currency, whereinthe receipt comprises a record of the transaction.
 42. Thecomputer-executable instructions of claim 40 further comprisinginstructions whereby a default language is selected as the customerlanguage when the language identification module does not containtransaction facilitating information in the customer language read fromthe portable memory medium.
 43. The computer-executable instructions ofclaim 40 further comprising instructions whereby a default currency isselected as the customer currency when the currency identificationmodules does not contain financial information in the customer currencyread from the portable memory medium.
 44. (canceled)
 45. (canceled) 46.The method of claim 39, further comprising retrieving updated exchangerate data at scheduled intervals.
 47. A financial transaction method,comprising: storing transaction facilitating information in a pluralityof languages in a language identification module; storing exchange ratedata between a plurality of currencies in a currency module; identifyingan operator language and an operator currency from a first memory;identifying a customer language and a customer currency from a secondmemory; displaying an operator interface, wherein the operator interfacecan be displayed in the operator language and wherein financial portionsof the transaction are converted to the operator currency; displaying acustomer interface, wherein the customer interface can be displayed inthe customer language and wherein financial portions of the transactionare converted to the customer currency; facilitating a businesstransaction, wherein the business transaction comprises displaying theoperator interface in the operator language and the operator currencyand displaying the customer interface in the customer language and thecustomer currency, wherein the operator language and the customerlanguage are different, and wherein the operator currency and thecustomer currency are different.
 48. The method of claim 47, wherein atleast one of the operator interface and the customer interface isdisplayed in a browser.
 49. (canceled)
 50. The method of claim 47,wherein a default language is selected as the customer language when thelanguage identification module does not contain transaction facilitatinginformation in the customer language read from the second memory. 51.The method of claim 47, wherein a default currency is selected as thecustomer currency when the currency identification module does notcontain exchange rate data for the customer currency read from thesecond memory.
 52. The method of claim 47, wherein the first memory andthe second memory are the same.